Home 2014 NFL Draft Steelers’ Martavis Bryant Comes With High Risk and High Reward

Steelers’ Martavis Bryant Comes With High Risk and High Reward

by Steeldad

BryantThe moment Pittsburgh Steelers’ cornerback Ike Taylor mentioned the name Martavis Bryant, he had been thought of as a very potential draft pick by the Steelers. The team fulfilled that on Saturday when they drafted Bryant in the fourth round of the NFL Draft.

At 6’4″ plus Bryant provides the offense with the tall receiver they’ve lacked essentially since the days of Plaxico Burress.

Ironically, Bryant reminds me of Burress in several ways yet Bryant appears to be more athletic when you compare their numbers from their respective combine experiences.

Bryant recorded 12 touchdowns on just 61 receptions in 2013 and is a legitimate red zone threat. He is also very good on back shoulder fades and goes up and gets the ball quite well. From what I can gather, he is best used along and outside of the numbers where he can use his athleticism to his advantage. Ben Roethlisberger will love this part of his game.

This selection is not without serious concern though. Bryant is basically a ‘one-year wonder’ who lacked playing time behind DeAndre Hopkins and Sammy Watkins before finally being the Clemson Tigers’ number two receiver this year. He’s been suspended before for a throat-slashing gesture and he’s had academic issues as well.

He is, in a word, a “project.” But this is a project worth taking on for receivers’ coach Richard Mann who changed the culture among the receivers last year. With the immature Mike Wallace gone, Mann made it clear to both Antonio Brown and Emmanuel Sanders that things were going to be different and they were.

If Bryant comes in and struggle to learn the offense that will be one thing, but short of that, he needs to be on the field in red zone situations at the very least. He is still very raw, runs poor routes and struggles to catch the ball cleanly at times but I think he was worth a shot in the fourth.

The upside for Bryant and the Steelers was too much to ignore.

Marc Uhlmann writes for and co-owns www.steelcityblitz.com. Follow him on Twitter @steeldad and follow the website at @SCBlitz. He can be heard weekly on Trib-Live Radio talking Steelers and is a blogger for ESPN 970 in Pittsburgh.

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6 comments

Mario L May 12, 2014 - 3:54 pm

Listening to Carnell Lake talk about depth @ CB, he talks up players who played sparingly last year. What do you expect him to say. But please lets all take what coaches are saying now with a grain of salt. I’m not gonna hold my breath on the depth of the Secondary & @ WR. If any of the “Starters” go down w/ injury for ANY extended time the Steelers are in trouble more so then most teams. UNLIKE the penguins regular season where they could call up from WB/S baby pens The Steelers options will be pulling off the practice squad &/or pulling bodies off the street. Again this is because of Colbert & scouts bad drafts. With 08/09 draftees completely off this roster. For a team that signs “Fringe” free agents @ best The draft is where Steelers have built & maintained this team but Colbert has become stale & reached. With reports Steelers had Beckam Jr & Gilbert high on “Want” both were gone by #15. Which in a way contradicts what Lebeau Lake & others have said. You can never have enough DB’s & right now the Steelers secondary are the 2 extremes #1 Old grizzly veterans or #2 inexperienced & unproven. Thats a KILLER combo of the wrong kind.

Vittorio May 12, 2014 - 6:57 pm

Okay sure the CB position is not a strength of this team but when has it ever been that? Just because a guy like Dennard or Gilbert are called 1st round picks it does not mean the Steelers or for that matter the other 31 teams see it the same way. They don’t see CB in the first couple rounds as something of a big need. This teams asks there DB’s to control the WR so that the LB’s can wreak havoc on the QB. Look at the Steeler DB stats over the last few years and you will see not that many picks by a CB. Troy hauled in at least half of those Int”s and the rest at the hands of DL, LB’s and CB’s. DB’s in the 1st round aren’t valued by the Steelers the same way you or another team would value them. The draft is about guys that are higher on the board than the next one or it’s about best available guy at that position. Look at Ike Taylor and Cortez Allen were they 1st round picks? No they were mid round picks and to them they saw great value at CB in the mid round. Look at Gilbert and his report said he is a poor tackler so explain to me other than his return ability could you fans live with a CB who can’t tackle and what about Dennard his main problems were struggles in man coverage and tends to grab way to often and will draw PI penalties. Yes Richardson has the same issue as Gilbert so that is a contradiction on that matter, but never the less the point is the guy you want is more often than not the same guy the Steelers will want.

steeldad May 13, 2014 - 1:02 am

It became evident to me that the Steelers are finally coming to grips with the new NFL. Talk is cheap in May and following through with this will be the real eye opener but it’s clear they were looking to get faster and stronger up the middle. Yes, I would have liked them to have taken a corner much sooner than they did but they obviously feel the lack of pressure was the real culprit to last year’s problems. As I’ve said leading up to this draft, it will be the ultimate referendum on Kevin Colbert. If these picks do not work out he has to go.

Blkandgold4life May 13, 2014 - 2:23 am

I like the pics..especially on defense. A CB would have sat and been a special teams Guy as always.I think once they free up more $ come June 1st via Woodley they will get a vet CB for depth but would have been good to grab one to learn behind Ike..Next years draft is a definate time to go CB round 1 even if they have to trade into the top 10..Overall I can’t complain

Joey Porter's Pit Bulls May 13, 2014 - 6:41 am

Martavis Bryant brings lots of possibilities and reminders of tall receivers who have worn Black ‘n Gold. His name has been likened to players from Plaxico Burress to Limas Sweed. Another name comes to mind: Fred Gibson. Like Bryant, Gibson was a tall receiver (6’4″) who had deep speed. Like Bryant, Gibson was a fourth-round draft pick (in 2005, out of Georgia).

Gibson never made it out of training camp. He was cut before the first game. He had trouble getting off the line of scrimmage. He dropped passes in practice and in pre-season games. He could get off the jam of corners, nor could he shake them in routes. He had trouble learning the playbook.

I’m not saying he’s going to be another Fred Gibson, but if he’s had “issues” with focus, concentration and catching the ball, he’d better serious about his game real quick. Otherwise, he may learn why NFL stands for “not for long” for players who don’t take it seriously.

Vittorio May 13, 2014 - 8:08 pm

Yes but Bryant is not Gibson could he be yeah but he has yet to take the field with Ben or with any of the QB’s on the roster. I wanted a Tall WR for a couple reasons. 1.it gives the Steelers a different option to use in the redzone instead of them running the ball down all the time just like they did last season, and 2.it makes trying to double AB much more difficult. Haley lobbied for him for 2 rounds at the nfl draft which should tell you all you need to know about Moye and how they fell about him. Understand this when I said the Steelers need a guy like Megatron or AJ Green all I meant was they need a guy who can fight for the ball and make those jump ball catches that the other Steeler WR’s can’t do.

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